task 6

Intro:

For our recording session, we decided to use our second song as it was our most completed song and had the strongest structure. We worked on recording the song over 3/4 weeks, having many ups and downs such as losing all progress and hvaing to re-record and to re do the bass. We re-recorded in the last 2 sessions we had completing the whole song.

Recording session 1:

Friday 17/1/25

Objectives: To record bass and drums

Roles: Tyler-drums/Vinny-bass/Me-producer

In this session, we set up the drums and bass ready for recording and did multiple test runs too see if we run into issues. Such as headphone issues with it sounding static, then the drummer not being able to hear the bass as loudly. We ran into an issue of the metronome being too quite but still having the musicians playing off time. We did a few test runs recording which came out pretty good then tyler and vinny recorded the bass and drums for our first song. We did two takes which came out quite well but can have some places to clean up such as communication of what Tyler plays and the timing of them as at some points it went a bit astray.

Task 6: As a group record 1 of your original songs in the recording studio, demonstrating and documenting on your blog the recording and studio production skills and knowledge you employed. (Unit 5 LO2.2)

Recording Session 2:

Friday 24/01/25

In the morning, Jordan took us through the basic of mic distance from and amp and where to place a mic. When mic-ing up an amp it is best to ensure that you direct it somewhere between the centre annd the edge of the cone. The closer to the middle gives it a warmer sound whereas closer to the edge gives it a more wooden sound. We was told how the mic should be placed between 1-1.5 inches away from the amp . The futher the distance means tehres mjore reverb, closer there is less. He also taught us about double tracking and how slight deviations allow the sound to be layered with added texture. By panning them hard left and right gives them better sound quality.

In this studio session, Me, Vinny, and Joseph got the guitar rhythm down as we were originally going to record drums, however Tyler ,our drummer, had been taken by our teacher Jordan. So we recorded the guitar part in the studio booth recording straight into logic instead of through an amp. Vinny choose a setting on the computer that gave his guitar a more distorted/punky sound. Through this process i sang the lyrics to help Vinny stay in time with Jospeh mimicking his guitar parts.

Vinny took a video of the drum set up and how it was set up.

To the right is a snippet of the guitar riff Vinny played.

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Video of drum set-up

Set up for a guitar amp.

Leads/input set up in the studio.

Recording session 2:

Tuesday 4/02/25:
-re-record rhythm

Vinny wanted to re-record the rhythm so that what they focused on, However this led to a problem that they discovered with the drums and guitar weren't in time with the metronome. We don't know how it happened setting us back. This lead us to having to re-record the drums and guitars again.

-messed up

Recording session 3:

friday 31/01/25

I wasn't present for this studio session however, the boys(Vinny, Joseph, and Tyler) did get some recorded stuff and updated me on what they had done through videos. In the session they recorded the drums, and guitar tracks.

Recording session 4:

friday 7/02/25:

-recorded drums, guitars, bass.

-studio work

-recorded guitars in F01

-recorded in twoish sessions.

On our Friday recording session, we got down the drums, a rough bass, and guitar parts. We started in a studio to get the drums down, which tyler played, and a rough bass line. We did 3 takes to start with, however the timigs kept changing. So the breakdown section was either too long or short. Tyler and Vinny discussed what they wanted to do and settle on the breakdown being the same length as the chorus. We did 3 more takes which all came our relatively well, and in consistent time. We then moved to F01 since the studios were booked out by other people. We recorded the guitar parts, Vinny went first recordin the rhythm guitar which we got done in one take. Then Joseph did his solo guita parts, that took three takes as at first he was a bit quiet. By the end of the session we had everything but vocal. and bass (as we didnt like the outcome of the bass)

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IMG_3341.mov

Recording session 5:

Tuesday 11/02/25:

In this session, we once again used F01 to re-record bass and to record vocals. We set up a bass am, and the mic for the bass amp. Then I got up our logic project, and added a new track for the bass and muted the old bass track. We did 2/3 takes for the bass, as it was a bit loud at first. We liked this outcome of the bass. We the set up the vocal mic with help from Jordan, and started on recording the vocals. There a bit of a mess up due to the second verse being longer than normal, so I had to retake.

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MIXING:

Leveling is the process of adjusting the volume levels of individual tracks or elements within a mix to achieve a balanced and cohesive sound, ensuring no element dominates and all can be heard. I started by lowering the volume on all the instruments to 0 and then bringing the vocals up to -6bd-, then I moved onto slowly bringing the kick and bass up (as they are key elements) so it doesn't over power the vocals. Then moving on to do the same process with the rest of the instruments. Panning is the process of positioning a sound source within the stereo field, from left to right, or anywhere in between, to create a sense of space and separation between different elements. I then moved on to use the pan knobs to move the sound of certain instruments to the left or right to fill the empty space in the song and allowing all instruments to be heard more clearly. Kick, bass, vocals and sometimes lead guitar tend to stay in the middle as it keeps the foundation of the song. EQ is the technique for adjusting volume of individual frequencies to, ensure instruments and vocals are heard clearly i.e no masking, enhance the best frequencies, remove problem frequencies, and adding 'air' to make an instrument or vocal 'sparkle'. Masking refers to the phenomenon where one sound, often a louder or more prominent one, obscures or hides another sound in the same or adjacent frequency range, making it harder to hear or perceive. It happens because the human ear has a limited ability to perceive multiple sounds simultaneously, especially if they overlap in frequency. For example, a kick drum and bass guitar, both play in the low frequencies, can mask each other, making it difficult to hear the nuances of both instruments. Eq is used to carve out space for each sound by removing or reducing frequencies where they overlap. There are 3 EQ controls Frequency - This is the frequency which is the centre of the range affected by the EQ filter, Gain - This allows you to control how much you boost or cut the frequency range by, Q - This specifies how narrow or wide the frequency range your affecting is. The picture below shows how a wide Q will affect more frequencies than a narrow Q.

This is my final result on my original song made with my band Barbwire.

Evaluation for final recording:

Our final recording came out quite well, considering some issues such as having to re-do the whole track again since it became off time with the metronome.

WWW: The best features of our track would be that all the instruments worked well together leaving a nice balance between the drums, bass, rhythm guitar and lead guitar. It all blended nicely together. Its also all in time with limited issues and no instrument is over powering another.

I would want to improve vocals, having minimal time to do them, as well as coming across an issue when recording vocals which was discovering the second verse was 4 bars too long leading to having to re-do the vocals from the beginning and only getting one take. I feel like I wasn't pushing to my full ability and limited myself on the chorus.

I have learnt how to mix different levels of the song to make the song feel more full and learnt knowledgeable skills on what the different skills do such as EQ levels, and how you should remove bass from other instruments except the bass to make the bass sound more clear and full. I also leant other tech skills such as panning instruments to fill the 'empty' space in a song and to make the song sound more full.

Overall, the outcome of the song is something I am pleased with and thnk it was a success. As well as learning new technical skills.

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